Gumby:  It would not surprise me to have "mixed up a few historical realities."  But since the President was a Republican, the House only 24% Democrat and the Senate only 30% Democrat when Greenback legislation was passed, I don't think it's a stretch to conclude that Greenbacks came about...

Gumby:

Here's a prior link where we exchanged thoughts about who benefits from sound money.

http://gyroscopicinvesting.com/forum/ht ... 1#msg33721

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/175/315/PicardDoubleFacepalm-1.jpg?1316330080 I used to agree with things like this... before I arrived here. These people don't seem to understand that a highly restricted money supply doesn't only prevent governments from spending recklessly (and i...

Intelligent people SHOULD have a problem with Marxism, whether it be the theory or the practice.  The jury is no longer out.  We have 160 years of experience with what Marxism means and what it leads to.  It leads to the legitimization of political violence.  It leads to the de-legitimization of all...

This site attracts folks whose insights are immensely interesting and entertaining.  However, forums that specialize in politics don't interest me much at all because EVERYONE has already heard/read the bullet points that get exchanged.  I hope we don't go too far down that road.  But let me offer u...

Stone: If I ran a tiny indefensible outpost of global excellence in Asia, I'd look for ways to encourage others to care what happens to me and my country.  Selling stakes in a rock-solid government's "debt" to all comers seems an excellent way to win friends and influence people.  Isn't th...

Neither Romney nor Ryan have to be libertarians or Austrians, though it would be great if they were.  They simply have to offer a level of competence that exceeds that of the current administration.  That shouldn't be hard.

TBV, Those numbers appear to be the 50+ catchup numbers of both 401k and IRA, whether Traditional or Roth. I do honestly feel there's very little to lose and very much to gain by defaulting to maxing out that Roth contribution before building up other forms of monetary wealth or maybe even paying d...

1) Asset protection in a Roth IRA is not as ironclad as a 401K or pension plan.  However, it all depends on which state you live in. http://www.latimes.com/la-ira-story3,0,6977190.story 2) @Notsheigetz: Roth IRA contribution of $21,500 plus $6,000???  How is that allowed? The stated limits are much ...

It was the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in support of the then existing communist government, against Muslim rebels. The Soviets did not invade in order to support the existing government.  Not unless you count using Spetsnaz shock troops to assassinate the Afghan president on day one as a show o...

John Hussman's latest commentary (the first paragraph especially) offers an apt description of how central bank and government intervention are part of everyone's expectations these days. http://www.hussmanfunds.com/wmc/wmc120730.htm A press release from the usual suspects, or the lack of one, seems...

 I'm still trying to reason out the philosophical case for government for myself, so I try to keep a fairly open mind about it; it seems to me that some government is better than no government, but where do you draw the line, and how can you make a logically consistent argument for it?   i struggle...

Instead, let me be so bold as to say that all public goods (be they highways, schools, police, defense, etc.) are a gift to society (though not quite as voluntary as the word gift might imply) by the relatively few among us who pay most of the income taxes.  Let's not forget the other benefactors, ...

Moda:  I wrote a fairly lengthy reply, but decided against posting it.  Instead, let me be so bold as to say that all public goods (be they highways, schools, police, defense, etc.) are a gift to society (though not quite as voluntary as the word gift might imply) by the relatively few among us who ...

In no respect does government recognition of private property confer unearned value on the owner.  Even in feudal societies, lands were granted in recognition of past or future service to the state (e.g. in payment for military service, or in the form of Ottoman Empire style "iltizam" tax ...

k9:  I've nothing profound to add to Craigr's reply, except to say that the PP doesn't prevent losses.  It does, however, minimize them.  The unspecified double digit loss that a Greek PP investor may have incurred in the last year is certainly better than being all-in with any combination of Greek ...

Vaccines are not a huge profit center for a pharma company.  They are often administered only once or twice in the lifetime of an individual, and require literally years if not decades of testing and FDA approval before they can even reach the marketplace. Not trying to come down on either side of ...

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a man-made chemical present in a variety of products including food containers, receipt paper and dental sealants and is now widely detected in human urine and blood. Public health concerns have been fueled by findings that BPA exposure can influence brain development. In mice,...

TBV, MT may have his analogies, but that was one of the most artful pull-backs into a thread's main purpose from a well-intentioned but definite hijacking I've ever seen.  Good form, sir. Way to give credit where it's due. TBV's technique and execution were masterly. Reading his posts is like liste...

Do you think the Revolution would have succeeded without Common Sense ? It seems to have really turned the tide on public opinion, in addition to being a great recruiting and retention tool for the army. Perhaps.  It's hard to say.  Even with the pamphlet's strong impact, victory was by no means as...

MediumTex wrote: It's not that no one else was in favor of revolution, it was just that Paine was perhaps the better writer.

The above sentence sounds much better than "...None of it would have happened without the wisdom and leadership of Thomas Paine."

Do you believe that Paine wrote the Declaration of Independence? Actually, no I don't, though some Paine admirers claim he did.  The Committee of Five who did write it were certainly no slouches, and I have no reason to believe they needed a ghost writer to express themselves. In any event, the Dec...

To be fair, Paine did not persuade the "rest of the Founding Fathers" to opt for independence, though some Continental Congress delegates (of which he was not one) were indeed reluctant.  Fighting had already begun, Washington had already been appointed as head of the army, and British col...

MachineGhost wrote: How come we never hear from people in such countries on this forum?  Are they all just clueless about the PP?
PP seems kinda elitist in that only the Anglo-Saxon citizens seem to be true believers.

Tal vez el problema es la barrera del idioma.

Since Eduardo Severin was born in Brazil and spent half of his life there, maybe Sen. Schumer should send half of that tax money to Brasilia in gratitude for nurturing such a prodigious talent.  Fair is fair, right? A country like the US which imports a large portion of its hi-tech brainpower from o...